The Highlights of the Career of Teri Garr in Retrospect
Legendary character actress from countless funny movies from the 1980’s, Teri Garr, has passed away at the age of 79 and leaves quite a bit of hilarious work behind.
The world has lost a funny lady for the record books. Acclaimed Oscar-nominated actress, Teri Garr, has died of complications from multiple sclerosis. Perhaps at her prime in the 1980’s, Garr is probably best known to viewers for her work as Inga in the 1974 Mel Brooks film, Young Frankenstein, although whether you’ve seen that film or not, you’ll recognize Garr from the countless other projects she’s worked on throughout the years. Garr has even done voice-over work for animated movies and hosted “Saturday Night Live” but her heart and soul was driven by the acting she did in some of the funniest movies ever made.
Of course, Garr’s Oscar-nominated work in 1982’s Tootsie was a revelation at the time. Dustin Hoffman played the role of an actor who can’t seem to get a good part. He takes unusual (and hugely successful) measures to dress up as a female actress in order to land a part in a popular soap opera. While Jessica Lange was Hoffman’s love interest, Garr made her presence known in the popular 1982 film with smart, funny work that audiences and critics cherished.
1983 brought the hilarious Mr. Mom to the silver screen. A film ahead of its time, the picture paired Garr with the always fantastic Michael Keaton. Keaton’s character took over domestic chores and child-raising activities as his character’s wife (Garr) went to work in the business world. While Keaton appeared to have the showier role as his dad character tries to dry his baby’s bottom with the hand-drying machines in the bathroom, Garr amusingly stole the show as the determined working mother and held her own against Keaton and then some.
In 1985, Garr appeared in one of my all-time favorite films, After Hours. As a lonely woman named Julie who runs into the movie’s lead character, Paul (Griffin Dunne), Garr reveled in the hysterical turn she did for director Martin Scorsese’s comic masterpiece. Julie tries to give Paul her phone number but Paul doesn’t hear all the numbers and, eventually, ruffles Julie’s feathers a bit. Julie ends up participating in a hunt by a Mr. Softee truck to find Paul when he escapes the scene and is accused of robberies in the neighborhood. Garr excelled in her minimal screen time here and lit up the screen in a hysterically clever way.
Garr was also in top form in the witty George Burns vehicle from the 1970’s, Oh, God! Just so it is known, Garr also appeared in a big-time $300 million worldwide grossing box-office success: a science fiction masterpiece from the 1970’s, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. There wasn’t much Garr couldn’t do as a performer. She did drama beautifully in the terrific underappreciated, Firstborn, from 1984 where she played opposite Peter Weller and Corey Haim. Come to think of it, there were so many character parts Garr played outside of her leading roles that now would be a good time to look some of them up in order to appreciate the work of a one-of-a-kind talent who will be greatly missed by all.
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